


Gloves Gets Friendzoned (and that’s okay)

by LightRedFox



Category: Splatoon
Genre: anyway dont judge me for writing this, do I tag the rest of gloves team? yes I will, no beta we die like men, wont tag it as ship but one sided bamboo/gloves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 07:53:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30052263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightRedFox/pseuds/LightRedFox
Summary: “Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Gloves spun the dualies around his fingers. “Better check your aim, Rims. We aren’t gonna beat Emperor anytime soon if you keep missing.”“And you’re never going to get that girl’s attention if you don’t talk to her.” They retorted as Gloves flinched at the words.“They’re right, you know.” Straps chuckled a bit, leaning her arms against the handle of her roller.Do you even need a summary just read the title.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Gloves Gets Friendzoned (and that’s okay)

**Author's Note:**

> This was in my drafts for a long ass time but I only now came up with an ending I was decently happy with. My original problem was probably that I was trying to make it shippy but current me was just No <3 so Gloves gets no bitches this time.
> 
> Also Bamboo uses she/they and Half Rim they/them for reference/clarification.

“I think he likes you.”

Bamboo’s splatling, which was all revved up and ready to fire, immediately died down as it’s owner turned to face the person next to them.

“Pardon?”

“That green dualies guy with the tentacles that keep falling off.” Blazer made some gestures with her hands to emphasize the details. “He’s always been practicing in the same areas as us. It’s been like this for like an entire week; no way it’s just a coincidence.”

Blazer jerked her thumb to point at the four green inklings practicing just a few meters away from them, on top of the reef’s bridge.

“I’ve noticed that too, though I’m confused as to where you got a conclusion like that from.” Bamboo set their splatling down and leaned on it slightly, resting their elbow against the end of it.

“I’ve been observing them during our breaks, and he keeps glancing towards you, like he’s checking if you’re watching.”

Bamboo raised a brow at this. Curiosity now peaked, they looked towards the green inkling practicing a ways away.

Gloves expertly dodge rolled to the left to avoid the fully charged shot of Half Rim’s splatterscope, and then quickly dodged back to the right to avoid Straps’ sneak attack, allowing him to get a clear shot at Rims.

“Ow.” Rims commented with their ever monotonous voice. Of course, they had the same ink color as Gloves so they couldn’t actually get splatted, but it still stung a bit to get pelted with ink so quickly.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Gloves spun the dualies around his fingers. “Better check your aim, Rims. We aren’t gonna beat Emperor anytime soon if you keep missing.”

“And you’re never going to get that girl’s attention if you don’t talk to her.” They retorted as Gloves flinched at the words.

“They’re right, you know.” Straps chuckled a bit, leaning her arms against the handle of her roller. “All we’ve been doing is practicing in the same places as her, it’s a bit creepy to be honest. They don’t even acknowledge your existence!”

“I-I just need more time to get her attention!” Gloves protested, cheeks turning blue in embarrassment. “I’m sure she’ll see me and totally fall in love with my sick moves anytime now.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

“Hey, guess what?” A voice came from below them, and a second later Clip popped up out of the ink, changing from her squid form to her inkling form.

“Rider’s teammates are coming.” She pointed out, and Gloves’ eyes widened as he did a quick 180 to see the two yellow green girls approaching them.

“Hey there,” Blazer waved a hand in greeting. “Gloves team, right?”

“That’s us, yeah.” Straps nodded, joining Rims and Clip in waving hello back to them. Gloves stayed frozen in place, cheeks flushed and eyes bouncing to look at anything that wasn’t the pair of golden-yellow eyes staring directly into him.

“I’m Blazer, and this is my friend Bamboo.” The girl in question nodded their head in acknowledgement, eyes still trained on the flustered team leader.

“Nice to meet you properly. I’m Clip.” She pointed at herself, then gestured to her teammates.

“The one with glasses is Half Rim, that’s Straps, and the dumbass with a crush is Gloves.”

“Clip!” He hissed as his other teammates held back laughter, the girl simply replying with a smirk.

“Ah, so I was right.” Blazer nodded to herself.

“I-Ignore her!” Gloves shoved Clip to the side, though her smirk never faded. “A-Anyway, what’s up?”

“We noticed that our teams have been practicing in the same areas recently, so we figured we’d stop by for a chat.”

“Oh, really? I totally didn’t notice! What a coincidence.” Gloves laughed nervously as Rims facepalmed in the background.

“Told you it was obvious.” Straps whispered.

“You guys practicing for anything in particular?” Clip brought up, Gloves’ nervousness being too painful for her to keep watching from the sidelines. Bamboo shook their head.

“No. We’re simply honing our skills with our weapons.”

“We’re focusing on getting the timing for our specials right!” Blazer chimed in. “Stealthy’s strategy for using all of our specials at once is pretty good, it just didn’t work out that one battle.”

“Oh yeah, I saw that! It was so cool!” Gloves piped up, recalling the match between Yellow Green team and the Monarch team. “I can’t believe Emperor managed to dodge all of that!”

“Well, we didn’t have a lot of experience with our specials at the time. Even now, I still have a hard time using my stingray!” Blazer giggled.

“Even so, it was a great effort.” Straps nodded. “Honestly, we’ve been thinking of trying out that tactic too, it seems so powerful!”

“At the very least, it’s an easy way to disrupt the opponent’s synergy.” Bamboo agreed. “Though if I had to change one thing about it, swapping out a stingray for more tenta missiles would be more effective in disrupting the battlefield. At least, in theory.”

“Noted.” Clip grinned. “I’ve been trying out these dualie squelchers nowadays, so we’d be happy to test out that special combo!”

“It’d be great if you did that!” Blazer smiled. “Stealthy would probably be happy to see others innovating his strategy too! You guys seem really cool, it’s a shame we hadn’t talked to each other sooner.” 

“Y-You think I’m cool? Really?” Gloves’ eyes sparkled with joy at the statement, and Blazer nodded her head, nudging Bamboo lightly with her elbow.

“Yeah, you’re suuuper cool! Right Bam?” She sent a wink their way.

“...I suppose that’s one word for it.”

Gloves was practically bouncing in happiness at the compliment, a dopey smile spreading across his face as he repeated the words in his head.

“They think I’m cool…” He whispered, face dusted with a light shade of blue just thinking about it.

“Is he okay?” Bamboo cocked their head to the side as Gloves continued to seemingly stare at something past where they stood.

“Yeah, he just gets all giddy when he gets compliments like that.”

Blazer looked back and forth between her friend and the trendy inkling with a mischievous glint in her eye.

“Actually, I think I hear Rider calling me back. Why don’t you stay here for a while longer and chat, Bam?”

“I don’t hear anything—”

Blazer was already running towards their previous spot before they could get all the words out. Clip glanced at Rims and Straps, and they all nodded in unison.

“Hey, you should keep her company Gloves. We’re gonna go get snacks. Be back in a bit!”

“Hey, wait-” 

He snapped out of his ecstasy only to see his teammates had already run off to abandon him, leaving only the two of them standing on the bridge. Suddenly the nervousness in his stomach welled up against his will, completely wiping the smirk off his face and replacing it with a nervous smile.

“So, uh. Guess it’s just us two.” He gave a half hearted chuckle, which died down quickly after he didn’t get a reply.

“W-Wanna, uh, take a seat?”

Bamboo nodded, and took a seat on the crate conveniently placed in the middle of the bridge. Gloves sat down next to them, sparks flying through his nerves when their knees accidentally bumped next to each other, his legs jerking the other way instinctively. Even as they settled down, the silence was permeable between them, the distant hum of cars and traffic in the streets trying to make up for the lack of voices. It wasn’t exactly uncomfortable, but it wasn’t a heartwarming feeling either. Gloves would compare it to sitting next to someone on the subway during rush hour—close, but not a word spoken between each other. The chirping of the birds as they pecked at the ground in front of them only served as a reminder that they didn’t exactly have a lot to say.

“Do you like birds?” Gloves finally spoke up, trying to make small talk. He gestured at the pigeons minding their own business a few meters away from them to accentuate his question.

“Some of them.” They replied curtly. “They’re nice to observe in my downtime, though annoying if I’m trying to have lunch outside.”

“Haha, yeah, they can be feisty when I bring some bagels out as snacks.”

He gave a small chuckle, yet the silence quickly settled back between them, like a blanket of fog he couldn’t blow away no matter what. Was it because she simply wasn’t a conversationalist? Or was it because he didn’t know the girl well enough to even have a subject to immediately jump into?

He opened his mouth again to try to start on a different topic, but this time they beat him to it with their own question.

“Do you like me?” They got straight to the point as Gloves froze up, mouth agape for a bit before shutting. He was glad he always wore his headset, because his ears were pinned as flat as they could against his head in embarrassment as he processed the question.

“I-er, well, I don’t have a reason to dislike you.” He laughed nervously, boring holes into the ground as he felt himself heat up.

Bamboo nodded their head in response. “I see.”

They didn’t say anything after that, and the awkwardness was filling the air again. Gloves desperately didn't want to go back to that silence, so he spoke again.

“I-I mean...I guess I do?” Gloves fiddled with his fingers, crossing a leg over another as he admitted to his not-at-all well kept secret.

“You were really cool in that fight against Emp, so I decided to learn more about you guys after I saw how well you all did against his team. Then I found out you were also into wood carving and all that, and I kinda went down a rabbit hole.” He rambled.

“I-I saw you have a shop. I looked at your designs—specifically the murals, and I noticed you took inspiration from records of the Great Turf War for some of your works. I-I used to—I mean I still am really interested in pieces like those that pay homage to our history. I’m kinda a nerd when it comes to it, so finding out that you were an experienced turf player and also into Inkopolis’ history…” He trailed off before clearing his throat.

“What I’m saying is that, I think you’re real interesting. I’d love to know more about you. Maybe talk about the things we have in common. I-If you’ll let me, I mean.”

Bamboo took in his words, and Gloves felt beads of sweat roll down his forehead as they hummed quietly to themselves, clearly thinking of a good response.

“You know, you’re the first person to say something like that to me.”

“Wh-What?! For eel?” A surprised expression graced his face.

“I’ve seen people flock to Rider and even Blazer sometimes, but to me? This is a first.”

“W-Well, that’s good, right? A pretty face like yours doesn’t deserve to be cast to the side.”

He admitted that came out a lot cheesier than he expected, but he expected at least a reaction from them, maybe a blush on their cheeks. Yet it seemed like their neutral expression remained, brows furrowing even deeper as they seemed to hesitate on what they wanted to say next. What was only seconds felt like hours, and then they spoke.

“Listen. I appreciate your compliments, but I’m just going to state it bluntly. I’m not interested.”

He goes quiet for a moment, a crestfallen look overtaking his features, before he sighed and nodded his head.

“Alright. I get it. I-I’m sorry if I came across too strong or something like that.” He scratched his cheek awkwardly and looked away, unable to face them.

“I-I guess I should go? I understand if you don’t wanna be near me anymore.”

“You didn’t let me finish.” Bamboo sighed. “Even if I’m not really interested in getting to know you that way, I’m not at all opposed to discussing our shared interests together. If you want, I don’t mind letting you into my workshop.”

That caught his attention, and he turned to face them with curiosity all over his face.

“I usually finish up my larger works or commissions there, so if you really are interested in that type of thing I have no qualms with you taking pictures or videos. It’ll be nice to have someone to talk to while I’m working as well.”

“R-Really?”

They nodded their head in affirmation, and a smile quickly found its rightful place back onto his face.

“Cool! So, uh, when can I drop by?”

“Anytime you’d like. I don’t have consistent hours due to training with my team, but you can always pay a visit to see if I’m inside.”

They continued to discuss their plans of meeting up in the future, with a noticeably much chattier air to their conversation than their previous attempts. In the distance, the rest of Gloves’ team watched from far away with mixed expressions.

“Ha, called it.”

“No you didn’t Rims! You bet that she would flat out reject him, but look! They’re still talking!”

“Straps is right, that means you BOTH owe me. I’m the only one who guessed the friendzone part right, so pay up, you two.”

-

“What?! You rejected him?”

“I don’t think we would have been a good match.” Bamboo sighed, returning their splatling back to its case before closing it and clicking it shut. “He’s much too hyper for my liking, not to mention rowdy. He seemed to take it well, though.”

“Aww boo,” She pouted. “I think you two could have been cute. I thought for sure you guys would hit it off!”

“As acquaintances or friends, surely, but not as anything more than that.”

“Hmph!” Blazer made a small whining noise as Bamboo rolled their eyes.

“I think you’re more upset about it than me.”

“Of course I am! If I don't care about your love life who will?!”

“You don’t have to poke your nose into my business at all, you know.” They hefted their splatling case over their shoulder and started to walk away from the Reef, the green inklings in the distance still practicing hard even with how late in the day it was. Blazer followed her friend, her much lighter .52 gal deco in hand.

“It’s more fun if I do, though! I guess it doesn’t matter, there’ll be someone for you once you two finally get your feelings together.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, nothing.”

**Author's Note:**

> uhh anyways now that that’s done with. have my headcanons and explanation for how I wrote the characters.
> 
> Gloves isn’t emotionally mature at all, no matter how he tries to act. He gets angry and provoked easily, but it’s just as easy to get him to be in a bad mood as it is to make him happy. Still a kid with a lot to learn about himself.
> 
> This doesn’t mean he’s NOT capable of commitment, just that he has a hard time grasping how long term a romantic relationship is. If he had successfully asked Bamboo out on a date they probably would have only gone on two or three dates before calling it off, because he’d realize by then that it’s not what he really wanted.
> 
> Bamboo on the other hand is extremely capable of controlling her emotions, and as such she knows fully well that she wouldn’t be able to sustain a relationship with a person like Gloves. They barely know each other, and he only finds her attractive due to seeing her on the battlefield, and being interested in her hobbies. She’s not AGAINST the idea of dating, rather she has a gap of information in how they would be around each other, and knows that it wouldn’t last long due to that.
> 
> I do also headcanon her as demiro and demisexual which is also what inevitably contributes to her refusal. She simply isn’t attracted to this guy that she’s only met and talked to once or twice.
> 
> In the end, I think they’d be better suited to dating people they know well through time and experience. They’d be fun as friends tho.


End file.
